Commentary
Ryan Palmer
Communicator

The value of a human life should be determined without regard to race, nationality, and ethnicity. Unfortunately, often times that is not the case. Tragedies and death internationally get less attention than those locally. Practically this makes sense; the people we are closer to are the ones that are missed more when they are gone. Philosophically it does not; they have the same properties that define them as human as any other.

When the numbers of killed and injured are compared between Iraqi civilians and U.S. soldiers the disparity is shocking. Iraqi Body Count (online) estimates that civilian deaths in Iraq since the invasion to March 30 this year, are between 84,501 and 91,714 (this number is taken to be considerably low since it only accounts for reported incidents). American loses in the conflict remain at 4084 (this is also deceiving because it does not account for private contractors lost or seriously injured). A number far too high, but in comparison to the Iraqi death toll it seems miniscule.

The deaths of these people come as a side note, after the deaths of American soldiers are given. Considering that almost 22 times the number of Iraqi civilians have been killed in the conflict than American Soldiers, it is an injustice to neglect to mention that number. Imagine, over almost 100,000 lives; each one just as human as the American Soldier.

How can so many deaths seem to be ignored or pushed to the back of people’s minds? A famous phrase from Joseph Stalin comes to mind, “One million deaths is a statistic, one death is a tragedy”. The number of deaths is irrelevant, while the proximity of the people affected has more to do with the level of concern given to the misfortune. Deaths and tragedies are all too often forgotten as people, expectedly, continue on with their lives. After the sound bytes air and the clips run people forget; they have families and lives to attend to.

A human life is a human life regardless of the distance and difference between. There is no reason why more grief should be felt over the loss of an American than of an Iraqi, or vice versa. Do they not have a family, hopes and dreams as well as any other person? I know the Yoruban, killed in Africa, just as well as I know the guy across town that had a heart attack last week. Empathy should not be reserved to those who we feel the closest to, merely by nationality. Empathy’s qualities are just as important to those foreign as to those who are domestic. The distance that is placed between the U.S and many of the disasters that occur around the world is largely at fault for the disparity of concern. Only glimpses and seconds enter our most of our consciouses. I feel the same sorrow and sadness when witnessing the loss of a person that I have little to no idea of who they are, except that they were once alive.

If we are to ever appreciate foreign culture, time and energy must be dedicated to education and awareness. It is much more difficult to go to war when culture is understood and appreciated. Just by being exposed to simple family stories minds expand and realize that perceived differences may not be all that large. Humanizing people that are affected by war and strife will lead to less acceptable discrepancies in the value of a human life.

You can contact the writer at staffwriter@spokanefalls.edu